Ironing machine



1'. FLATEBOE.

IRONING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1921.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

'E. l. FLATEB 0E.

IRONING MACHINE.

'APPHCATION FILED MAR. 10. 1921.

1,41 1,776. Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

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lRONl-NG MACHINE.

APPLXCATION FlLED MAR. 10. 1921.

1,41 1,776. Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE.

EINAE I. FLATEBOE, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR T0 PACIFIC MUTUAL INVESTMENT (10., OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

IRONING MACHINE.

Application filed March 10, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EINAR I. FLATEBOE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates .to improvements in ironing machines, more particularly to a machine of that character adapted for ironing flat work, and which comprises a rotatable, continuously driven ironing roller and a heated shoe movable from and against the roller, and between which the pieces are fed and are ironed as they are advanced by the movement of the roller.

The principal object of this invention resides in the novel construction of the driving mechanism and in the combination therewith of an improved clutch mechanism for moving the ironing shoe into and from pressing relation with the roller, and in the means for releasing or setting the clutch to cause a quick movement of the shoe.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a safety device in connection with the shoe operating mechanism whereby the shoe can be manually released and disengaged from the roller should the motor or automatic means become inoperative.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel details of construction of the parts embodying the invention, and in their combination and mode of operation.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of an ironing machine embodying the features of the present invention, parts of which are broken away for better illustration.

Figure 2 is an end view of the machine, showing the clutch control mechanism and the means for driving themachine.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, detail, sectional. view throughthe ironing roller and pressing shoe, illustrating the means whereby and the manner in'which the latter is mountde on a supporting and operating shaft.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, sectional viewof the roller driving gears and the clutch control mechanism.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, end view of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Serial No. 451,173.

driving and shoe operating mechanism, a part of the gear housing being broken away for better illustration.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the gear housing showing an inside view of the driving gears and clutch.

Figure 7 is a detail, side view, partly in section, illustrating the manner of connectmg the eccentric rod to the actuating lever of the shoe moving shaft.

Figure 8 is a sectional View substantially on the line 88 in Figure 7 Referring more in detail to the several vlews of the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate the same or like -parts supporting frames for the machine, which are joined by upper and lower longitudinal cross rods 3 and 4, in such manner as to form a rigid and substantial structure. A driven shaft 5 is revolubly mounted in suitable bearings to extend between the end frames at the top thereof, and upon this is fixed an ironing roller 6. This roller preferably consists of a cylindrical casing covered with 'a layer of any suitable padding, as is shown in Figure 1.

Supported upon brackets extending forwardly from the frame, is a feed board 7 that lies in a plane substantially level with the top of the roller and upon which the pieces to be ironed may be placed and fed to the roller and ironing shoe, from which they are delivered after being ironed, onto a receiving board 8 which extends forwardl from the frame below the roller.

At the back side of the roller is mounted an ironing shoe 9 that extends the length of the roller, and at the opposite'end is provided with legs 10 and 10 having slots 11 at their lower ends through which a supporting and operating shaft 12 extends. The inner face of the shoe is curved radially to fit the roller and at the back thereof, is a housing 13 wherein a gas, gasoline, coal oil or electric burner 14, or other heating element, Fig. 3, is located, and whereby the shoe may be heated for the purpose of ironmg.

The end supporting frame 2, at its upper end, embodies a gear housing 15,.and mounted therein and keyed to the'end of the shaft 5 is a driving gear wheel 16. A bracket 17 is keyed to this shaft 5 outside of the hous ing, and is connected with the end of the roller 6 by means of a pin 17 so that the roller will be driven by rotation of the shaft. A drive shaft 18 is mounted rotatably Within and extends rearwardly from the housing 15 through a tubular bearing 19, Figs. 2 and 6, and this is equipped at its inner end with a worm gear 20 that operates in mesh with the gear 16, and, at its outer end, with a belt wheel 21 over which a belt 22, operating over a belt Wheel 23 on the drive shaft of an electric motor 24 suspended from the.

frame, is extended to provide a continuous drive for the roller.

In the operation of feeding articles into the machine the ironing shoe is first moved from the roller, as is shown in full lines in Figure 3, and then, after the end of a piece of goods has been pushed between the shoe and roller, the shoe is caused to he moved against the roller, as shown in dotted lines, so that the piece by rotation of the roller is advanced through the machine and delivered onto the receiving shelf 8.

The means for effecting quick movement, by power, of the shoe into and from engagement with the roller, is one of the principal objects of the invention and embodies mechanism as will now be described, which operates automatically through connections with the gear 16.

Mounted within the gear casing 15, parallel with and in the horizontal plane of the shaft 5, is a short shaft 25,-Figures 4, 5 and 6, and mounted to rotate freely on the inner end of this shaft is a clutch wheel 26. provided on its inner face with an integrally formed gear pinion 27 which operates in mesh with teeth 28 formed interiorly of an annular flange 29 which extends outwardly and concentrically from the gear 16. This wheel 26, which is driven continuously with the gear 16 by the connection described, is provided with an outwardly extending peripheral flange 30 and cast interiorly of the flange, are clutch teeth 31.

Revolubly mounted on the s'haft25, between the wheel 26 and the outer wall 15 of the gear casing, Figure 4, is an eccentric 35. and located within a radially directed and outwardly opening bore 36 therein, is a slidable clutch tooth 37 which, by means of a spring 38 within the bore, is continuously urged outwardly into locking engagement with the clutch teeth 31, in such manner that the eccentric will be rotated by the movement of the clutch wheel.

Mounted about the eccentric is a strap 39 and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the same, through an. opening provided in the gear housing, Figure 5, is an eccentric rod 40 which is connected pivotally at its outer end with the end of a rocker arm 41 that is keyed to that end of the shaft 12. Rotation of the eccentric 35 will, through this connection, cause oscillation of the arm 41 and rocking movement of shaft 12.

The movement of the ironing shoe from and against the roller is effected by means of its connection with rocker arms 43 and 44, shown best in Figure 1, which are keyed onto shaft 12 and, at their outer ends, are pivotally fixed by pins 45 to laterally extending portions 46 integral with the legs 10 and 10 whereby the shoe is supported, and which are connected slidably and pivotally with the shaft 12.

The construction above provides that oscillation of the shaft 12 in opposite directions, by movement of the arm 41, will cause the shoe to be moved from and against the roller, and it is apparent that disconnection of the clutch pin from the teeth 31 of the clutch Wheel'26 would cause a discontinuance of this movement.

For the purpose of automatically disconnecting the clutch tooth so that the eccentric may hold the ironing shoe indefinitely at ironing, or open,'pos1tion while the roller continues to rotate, I have provided a. control lever 50 which is mounted pivotally on the outer end of the shaft 25 exteriorly of the casing 15. At diametrically opposite sides of the casing, as shown best in Figure 5, I have pivotally mounted clutch releasing plates 51 and 52, connected by means of links 53 and 54 with a hub flange of the lever 50 at points opposite the shaft 25. struction provides that movement of the lever in one direction will throw both plates outwardly and movement in the opposite direction will move them both inwardly into position tobe engaged by the clutch tooth, and that the tooth, following up the inclined face of an engaged plate, will be lifted thereby from locked relation with the teeth of the clutch wheel 26 and the eccentric will be caused to remain idle until the lever 50 is actuated to move the plates outwardly and the tooth thereby released to again engage the clutch teeth of the gear 26.

A compression spring 60 is mounted at one side of'the casing to bear against the lever 50 to normally and yieldingly retain the same in such position that the plates 51 and 52 are held thereby inposition to be engaged by the tooth of the eccentric and to lift the latter from driving engagement with the clutch wheel. I have also provided a foot control means which consists of a foot board 65 that is pivotally mounted at its forward edge on the lower, front cross bar 4, and which has an arm 66 extending rearwardly therefrom. A connecting rod 67 is fixed at its lower end tothe arm 66 and at its upper end to the hub flange of the lever 50 at such position that pressure downwardly on, the board 65 will cause movement of the lever to effect the locking of the clutch tooth to the clutch gear.

The con The construction provided as asafety device for disengaging the shoe from the roller, should for any reason, the motor or the automatic means become inoperative, is best illustrated in Figures 5, 7 and 8, which show the eccentric rod 40 equipped with a tubular extension 75 provided at opposite sides with longitudinally extending slots 76 wherein 1s slidably mounted the opposite end bearings 77 of a cross shaft 78 that is eccentric thereto and which at one end is equipped with a yoke at its upper end which is pivotally fixed to the bearings 77. A block 90 is mounted rotatably in the shaft 78 and bearing against this block and against a nut 92 that is threaded into the outer end of the tube 75, is a compression spring 94 which yieldingly retains the shaft bearings against the inner ends of the slots 76.

It will. be seen, that should the motor stop while the shoe is in pressing contact with the roller and the piece being ironed thereby become endangered, the shoe can be manually released, by actuating the crank 79 through an arc of 180 degrees from the position shown in Figure 7 and this, due to the eccentric mounting of the shaft 78 would throw the lever 41 outwardly and actuate the shoe accordingly from the roller.

Assuming that the parts are so constructed and assembled, the operation would be as follows:

Starting with the mechanism in position as shown in Figures 5 and 6, where the eccentric is positioned to retain the ironing shoe disengaged from the roller and the clutch tooth rests upon the releasing plate 52 and disengaged from the clutch wheel 26, the operator in using the machine first feeds the piece to be ironed across the table 7 and into the space between the shoe and roller, and then temporarily moves the lever 50 against the pressure of the spring 60 and in doingso actuates the plate 52 outwardly and releases the tooth so that it is moved into locking engagement with the teeth 31 of the clutch gear and the eccentric is thereby caused to be rotated to move the ironing shoe against the roller. After the eccentric has made one-half revolution, the clutch tooth comes into releasing contact with the plate 51 and is thereby moved from engagement with the clutch gear, causing the eccentric to stop at such position that it holds the ironing shoe clamped against the roller.

When the piece being ironed has passed the shoe, the latter may thenbe caused to be moved outwardly from the roller by again actuating the lever 50. This will cause the clutch tooth to be released from the plate 51 and to engage the clutch to carry the eccentric again to the outer position where it is again stopped by the action of the tooth engaging with the plate 52.

The foot board may, if it is so desired, be used in lieu of the lever 50, to eflect the same results.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new herein and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. In an ironing machine of the class described, in combination, an ironing roller, an ironing shoe mounted for movement 00- ope-ratively against and from said roller,

means for continuously driving the roller, a clutch gear continuously driven from said roller driving means, an eccentric, an eccentric rod for actuating the shoe from and against the roller, a clutch member on the eccentric engageable with the clutch gear to cause rotation of the said eccentric, means for automatically releasing said clutch member when said shoe has been actuated to its limit of travel against or from the roller and manually operable means for causing engagement of said clutch member.

2. In an ironing machine of the class described, in combination, an ironing roller, an ironing shoe mounted for movement cooperatively from and against the roller, means for continuously driving the roller, a clutch gear driven continuously from the roller driving means, an eccentric mounted co-axial with said clutch gear; an eccentric rod operatively connected with the shoe to move the latter from and against the roller, a yieldable clutch tooth carried bysaid eccentric for engaging the clutch gear to cause rotation of the eccentric, releasing plates mounted to engage the clutch tooth to release the eccentric from the clutch gear at times when said shoe is at its inner or outer limit of movement and a lever operatively connected with said plates whereby they may be manually moved to efi'ect engagement of said clutch member.

3. In an ironing machine of the class described, in combination, an ironing roller, an ironing shoe mounted for movement from and against the roller, a driving gear for the roller, a clutchgear driven from the roller driving gear having an interiorly toothed clutch ring thereon, an eccentric mounted co-axial with the clutch gear, an eccentric rod adapted to be operated reciprocally by said eccentric to move said shoe against and from the roller, a yieldable clutch tooth carried by the eccentric enthey may be moved outwardly to effect the engagement of the tooth, and means for yieldingly retaining the latter in set position.

4. In an ironing machine of the class described, in combination, an ironing roller, an ironing shoe supported pivotally to be moved from and against the roller, a driving gear for the roller, a gear housing, a

stub shaft supported in the housing, a clutch gear mounted rotatably on said shaft,'to be driven by said roller driving gear, and having an interiorly toothed peripheral clutch ring thereon, an eccentric mounted to rotate on said shaft, an eccentric rod adapted to be moved reciprocally by rotation of the eccentrio and operatively connected'to move said shoe from and against the roller,'a spring pressed clutch tooth mounted in said eccen-' with said releasing plates whereby they may be moved outwardly to allow the clutch tooth to engage the clutch ring and a spring normally retaining the lever in set position.

5. In an ironing machine of the class described, an ironing roller, a shoe actuating and supporting shaft, an ironing shoe pivotally supported by said shaft to be moved from and against the roller by oscillation thereof. an actuating lever on the said shaft, a roller driving gear, a clutch gear driven by said roller driving gear, an eccentric co-axial with the clutch gear, an eccentric rod connected at its outer endto said actuating lever to actuate the shoe from and against the roller, a yieldable clutch tooth on the eccentric for engaging the clutch gear, means for automatically causing the release of the tooth when the shoe moves to its outer or inner limit of travel and means for manually effecting engagement-of the tooth with the clutch gear.

6. In an ironing machine of the class described, an ironing roller, roller driving mechanism, a shoe supporting shaft, an ironing shoe mounted for support on said shaft and movable by oscillation thereof from and against the roller, an actuating lever for the shaft, an eccentric adapted to be driven through connection with the roller driving mechanism, an eccentric rod connected with the shaft actuating lever, and means for controlling the. rotative movement of the eccentric.

7. In an ironing machine of the class described, an ironing roller, a shaft mounted arallel with and below the roller, an iron- 1ng shoe having supporting legs slotted at their ends and mounted on said shaft,

levers fixed to said shaft and pivotally connected at their ends to said shoe whereby oscillation of the shaft will move the shoe from or against the roller, an actuating lever for the shaft, a roller driving gear, a clutch gear, an eccentric co-axial with the clutch gear, an eccentric rod connected at its outer end with said shaft actuating lever, a clutch tooth carried by the eccentric for engaging the clutch gear, releasing plates mounted to engage the tooth to effect the release of the eccentric from theclutch gear when said shoe has been moved to its limit of travel from or against the roller, a hand lever, a foot board and means operatively connecting the lever and board for manually moving the plates to cause engagement of the tooth with the clutch gear.

8. In an ironing machine of the class described, an ironing roller, roller driving mechanism, an ironing shoe, a shaft adapted to be rotated in opposite directions to move the shoe from and against the roller, a lever on said shaft for actuating the same, an eccentric, an eccentric rod having an eccentrically mounted shaft in its outer end connected with said actuating lever, and a crank'fixed to said eccentrically mounted shaft for rotating the same to adjust the length of connection between the eccentric and shaft moving lever.

9. In an ironing machine of the class described, an ironing roller, roller driving mechanism, a shoe supporting shaft, an ironing shoe supported on said shaft and movable by oscillation thereof from and against theroller, a lever on said shaft for actuating the same, an eccentrie'adapted to be driven through connection with the roller driving mechanism, an eccentric rod having a tubular portion at its outer end progided with longitudinal slots inits opposite faces, a shaft having eccentric end portions mounted in said slots and connected with said shoe controlling shaft lever, a block mounted on the shaft within the tubular portion of the rod, a spring bearing against" the block to retain the shaft at the inner ends of the slots and a lever for rotatlng the eccentric shaft.

scribed, an ironing roller, roller driving.

mechanism, an ironing shoe, a shaft adapted to be rotated in opposite directions to move the shoe from and against the roller, a lever on said shaft for actuatingthe same, and manually operable mechanism adapted to release said shoe from the pressing contact with said roller.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 1st day of Mafchl92l. w

EINAR; I. F LATEBOE. 

